Often, when it is necessary to arrange various pieces of equipment in proximity to each other, there is limited space or surface area or convenience for locating the equipment, so that it may be used efficiently. This problem arises in many different situations. For example, in a hospital nursery where a premature infant is treated in an incubator, other pieces of equipment (i.e. monitors, auxiliary humidifiers) often must be used in conjunction with the incubator to provide the proper care for the infant.
Many forms of equipment mounting systems are available or have been suggested previously. The general requirements of such systems are: (1) flexibility to accommodate the bringing together of different types of equipment for arrangement in ways most convenient to the user, (2) capacity to support equipment of widely varying weights and sizes, (3) facility to quickly position and reposition the equipment being mounted, (4) simplicity of operation, and (5) reasonable cost. The particular application of a mounting system is likely to dictate the relative importance of any of these factors.